NOTHING has changed in the average raise in the 20 years I've been here. The average is 3%. To give someone more, you have to take it away from someone else.
There's no "market rate" or "cost of living", unless you are lying to the press, like this press release from Aug 30, 2024:
"As we’ve shared, our goal is to reach fair and competitive agreements that recognize the hard work our employees do to serve our customers, with market-based pay and benefits tied to cost of living and projected inflation data. This is true for all employees, management and non-management alike. " - https://about.att.com/pages/employee-relations
NEVER have our pay raises been tied to cost of living or projected inflation data. 3%. Year after year. 3%.
They call it "market based" now. Its the same plan for decades.